HEART OF FIRE

by Venez, Sedona

  “But he got your leg,” I said.

  Kendra nodded. “He caught me just…right where there’s the big artery there,” she said, looking down at her hands. “Before it loops up and goes to your groin, you know? It tore out part of the muscle, just ripped through me, and I almost bled out.”

  “You almost died.” My heart raced at the knowledge I’d almost lost her. Reaching out, I took her hand in mine, giving it a quick squeeze. I had heard a dozen stories like hers, but that it was Kendra and not just another of my brothers-in-arms made it different. I could stay calm, but I still felt the urge to find whoever had done this to Kendra and beat the shit out of him.

  Kendra carried on. “They could repair the artery, mostly patch me up. But ever since…it’s like whenever I hear certain noises, I just lose it.”

  I remembered the party and the fireworks. “That happened at the birthday party too?”

  “Yes. But nobody noticed. I made it to the bathroom,” she explained. “Get myself under control before anyone knew what was going on.”

  “That’s fucking hard to do,” I spoke. “I’ve known plenty of guys who can’t manage that in a flashback.”

  “I couldn’t let my issues ruin Grandma’s birthday,” Kendra revealed. “But this…this is a big part of why I’m not sure what I will do. I don’t know if I can work through this enough to go back to the NYPD, or even to work as a cop here.”

  “I get it,” I stated. “You don’t have to decide right now. I won’t pressure you—and I can talk to your grandma if she tries it.”

  Kendra laughed, and I knew she was fully over the worst of it. “Good luck with that.”

  She took a deep breath. “Do you want to see it?” Kendra invited. “I haven’t even shown Grandma. Nobody but the doctors, really.”

  I kissed her softly before pulling back. “Show me.”

  Kendra placed her glass on my coffee table before taking off her boots and getting to her feet. She untied the sash at her waist then shimmied out of her jeans, standing before me in her panties—creamy white, with lace—and her button-down shirt. For a second, I didn’t even look at her leg, and I just appreciated how fucking beautiful she was with her silky, dark skin and curvy hips.

  Kendra locked eyes with me while turning her leg slightly. It was then I saw the scar tracking up from a little above her knee, right across the femoral artery. Leaning forward, I traced the scar lightly with the tip of my finger, knowing how sensitive it could be—I could tell why it was so painful. It wasn’t as bad as some wounds I’d seen, but it marked her ebony-hued skin.

  “It’s horrible,” Kendra declared, her voice light, but I could hear the pain in it too.

  “Want to see something?” I asked her. I stood up before she could answer and started unbuttoning my shirt. Peeling it off and tossing it away, I stepped forward so Kendra could observe what I wanted her to see.

  Her eyes widened. “That’s from the Army?”

  “No.” I shook my head, pushing down the urge to shiver as Kendra’s fingertips traced over the scars on my shoulders, back, and chest. They were halfway faded, but they still looked angry enough that I hated to see them. I hated for other people to see them too. “The night of the fire. Part of the roof collapsed when I was trying to get Mom out. I suffered second-degree burns and a few spots where it was third-degree.”

  “You… I didn’t even know.” Kendra frowned, looking up into my eyes. “You said nothing at the funeral. I didn’t even know the fire had injured you.”

  “When I signed up for the Army, I was well enough to go to get my physical and all that,” I said. “They put me up, gave me long enough to heal so I could do Basic. But that’s not the point.”

  “Then what is?” Kendra rebutted.

  I put my arms around her, looking down into her hazel eyes. “Your scar doesn’t make you any less—not less beautiful, not less strong. You’ll recover from this, and you’ll keep going.”

  8

  Kendra

  Before I could say anything in response to Lukas, he leaned in and kissed me. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, feeling warm and shockingly safe, considering the flashback I’d just had. As I pressed my body against his, Lukas deepened our kiss, letting his hands move over me. My cunt clenched when he dipped down from my lips to my neck, nibbling at my sensitive skin.

  Slowly, I pulled back. “When did you become such a bad boy?”

  “I’ve always been bad,” he growled. “You just didn’t know it.” He tugged me closer. “Shirt off,” he demanded.

  My eyes widened at his boldness. “Damn. It’s Dom Lukas.” I winked at him. “Me likey.”

  “Good.” He nipped my bottom lip. “Because I’ve waited a long time for you, Kendra Powell, and I’m planning on wearing your ass out tonight.”

  My pussy pulsed. “Sweet Jesus.” This was way too good to be true. I was about to fuck the boy—now a gorgeous, caring man—I practically grew up with.

  He stared at me with a serious expression. “But if you don’t want this, just say so, and I’ll stop right now.” He clutched my face. “Kendra, this is all your call.”

  “There is no way this is not happening, Lukas.” I unbuttoned my shirt, letting it fall to the floor. Then I unhooked my bra, tossing it over my shoulder.

  He let out a haggard breath, his gaze dropping to my bared breasts. “God, you’re so beautiful.” Lukas wet his bottom lip. It was a look of such desire and hunger that my breath hitched. “Let’s go to my bedroom.”

  I squealed when he picked me up effortlessly. Instinctively, I wrapped my legs around his lean waist as he carried me through his house, kicking open his bedroom door like he was the police.

  Dropping me onto his bed, he straddled me, one knee on each side of my waist. I peered up at him with greedy anticipation. His firm lips curved up into a smile.

  He cupped my cheek in one huge hand. “Do you trust me to take care of you?”

  “Yes,” I whispered.

  In the blink of an eye, he hooked my legs over his shoulders. Settling himself between the V of my thighs, he pushed my panties aside before licking my cunt. I moaned when his tongue lapped me from my clit to the end of my cleft. He swirled his tongue around my clit, flicking it and sinking it inside me. I panted, my hips arching and my hands grabbing at the sheets.

  “Who does this pussy belong to?” he gritted out as he fucked me with his wicked tongue.

  “You!” I screamed.

  His tongue flicked my swollen nub. “Oh my fucking god!” I screamed. “Please… I need… I want…”

  Abruptly, he relented, pulling away. “What do you want?” His green eyes blazed with a focused, animal wildness.

  “Fuck me,” I demanded.

  He growled before standing and stripping slowly. His skin was golden-colored and tight over bulging muscles beneath. He was, without a doubt, the sexiest man I’d ever seen. I dropped my eyes lower. His large erection was thick, hard, and jutting toward me. He was huge, and my mind raced, wondering how the hell he would fit all that inside me. I watched as he walked over to his bedside table, opening a drawer and taking out a condom. He tore open the package, quickly removing the latex and sheathing his cock.

  He came back over to the bed, tugging off my panties, exposing me completely before joining me on the bed. Hovering right above me, he slowly buried himself inside me. He gave my wetness time to adjust to his girth.

  “Relax,” he hissed, but my hips bucked.

  He held me still. “Slow, darling. You’re tight, and I don’t want to hurt you.”

  I took a deep breath, forcing my muscles to loosen. He pushed forward, slowly at first, and then he increased his speed from a sensuous slide to a hard, forceful pumping.

  “Fuck,” he cursed. “You’re so tight.”

  He was driving me crazy with lust, each stroke bringing me closer and closer to the edge. In a million years, I never would have thought my best friend from school could turn me on like this.

 
; “Lukas,” I groaned as he continued to fuck me like a man possessed. His thrusts were short and fast. I groaned in pleasure, taking everything he had to give. Our slick bodies were in perfect synchronicity, a strange magnetic energy encircling us.

  “Lukas, please.” My body begged for sweet release.

  With a low groan, he plunged into me before I felt the orgasm ripping up my spine, tearing through my limbs. Lukas spasmed inside me while shouting my name at the top of his lungs. He peered down at me with a sexy, bad-boy smile. “Damn,” he hissed.

  “Yes…damn,” I replied.

  Tremors ran through me as he trailed his lips across my shoulder before pushing the damp strands of hair away from my forehead.

  “You know,” I said, placing my hands on the sides of his face while stroking his jaw, staring into his green eyes. His lips curled up into a contented smile. I’d never seen anything more beautiful than Lukas. “If all my flashbacks had a happy ending like that, I’d be a lot less scared of them.”

  Lukas kissed me softly. “There’s nothing like sex to take your mind off things,” Lukas said, brushing my nipple with the backs of his knuckles.

  “Hell yes,” I said, wriggling underneath Lukas to get his weight where I wanted it. It was even better than the sex. Feeling his weight on me, his body pressed to mine, his cock—still wrapped in latex—twitching lightly inside of me. It felt safe, and I realized I hadn’t really felt safe, down to my bones, since the incident, even at Grandma’s house.

  “And if you stay,” Lukas said, holding himself up to look down into my eyes. “I could make this happen regularly.”

  I arched a brow. “Are you trying to bribe me with hot sex right now?”

  “Uh-huh.” He devoured my mouth with sweeping strokes of his tongue, slow and deep before breaking away and saying, “Now, tell me you’d give me, us, and you staying in town some…” A loud siren sound erupted from outside the bedroom. “Fuck!” he yelled while rolling off me quickly.

  I watched him, wide-eyed. “What is that?” I asked, sitting up quickly, enjoying the sight of his toned, naked body. “Did you leave the stove on or something?” Damn. He moves fast for a man the size of Thor.

  “No. It’s the ringtone for work,” he said, storming into his bathroom and leaving the door open. I heard him slamming things and the sound of water running. “I’m not on call formally.” He peered out of the bathroom, eyeing me, with a washcloth in hand. The condom was now off his cock. “But something must have gone down where they need all hands on deck.”

  “Shit,” I muttered, scrambling off the bed and snatching my panties from the floor.

  He dipped back into the bathroom then hurried out just as I brushed past him, needing to use the bathroom. While inside taking care of business, I heard Lukas say, “Hey, Chief. What’s up?” There was a beat of silence. I walked out of the bathroom to see Lukas dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, and with his cell pressed to his ear, still listening to the chief. I hurried past him, but he grabbed me, pressing a quick kiss to my lips before he replied into the phone, “Yeah. Got it. I can be there in fifteen.” He ended the call, shoving his cell into his pocket before wrapping his arms around me.

  He looked at me; I knew the look. It was one I’d worn a few times when work called me in during a date.

  Peering up at him, I asked, “What’s going on?”

  “There was a B&E,” he said. “And somehow, a fire started. There’s not a lot of information just yet. But the fire is fucking huge.”

  “I’m coming with you,” I replied. “It might be fun to watch Firefighter Lukas in action.” I winked at him. “Then we can go back to the date afterward.”

  He grinned. “I hoped that you’d say that.” He gave me a peck. “Let’s go, Detective. We need to haul ass.” He slapped my butt before releasing me.

  I growled mischievously before saying, “Slap my ass again, and I’ll show you how I subdue perps twice my size before handcuffing them.”

  “Now that’s a thought,” he growled huskily while clutching my hands and guiding me out of his bedroom to collect my clothes dropped in the living room. “Both of us nude while you try to handcuff me. Who knows, I might enjoy that.”

  I laughed loudly. “Kinky Lukas…behave.”

  9

  Lukas

  The team had the fire about halfway under control by the time I got there, and it only took me a minute to gear up and help take care of the rest of it.

  The house would be a total loss. I didn’t have to be an insurance adjuster to know that. Even just looking at the place in the dark, drenched in spotlights to help the crew, it was obvious. If the foundation hadn’t cracked, it would be a miracle. It took us about thirty minutes to get the fire completely extinguished, and the family that lived in the place would have to hope their insurance would cover a hotel room for the night—though I knew that if they didn’t have that kind of coverage, the chief would figure something out for them. But they would be effectively homeless. The family was standing off to the side, their dog—a Rhodesian ridgeback—positioned next to them, and they were talking to the cops.

  I shucked my gear and went looking for Kendra as soon as the cops started documenting the scene. Kendra was talking with the sheriff, both of them looking at a stack of paperwork on the hood of the sheriff’s cruiser. I smiled to myself, thinking that even if Kendra didn’t think she was ready to be a cop again, she’d fallen into it naturally. I hadn’t even suggested she do anything, other than stay out of the way, and she’d given me another of those looks—one that told me I would pay for it later.

  Engrossed in her conversation with the sheriff, Kendra didn’t spare me a glance when I approached.

  “And you see that?” Kendra asked the sheriff, pointing to the items on the hood of his cruiser. “All the pictures of the crime scenes show that same distinctive mark.”

  “The real question is, what the hell is that from?” Sheriff Baker asked.

  I hung back, letting Kendra have her conference with the sheriff, but listening in—and watching her. I’d always had the greatest respect for her, but observing her in a work setting, being all business, was a whole other thing. If I hadn’t seen her reaction to the fireworks, I never would have thought she was the same person. The woman I now saw talking to the sheriff was sharp, insightful, and professional. Nobody who witnessed how she scrutinized the evidence, or who heard the questions she was asking, would think she was suffering from PTSD.

  The sheriff looked up, spotting me, and waved me over. “Lukas. Kendra and I are just going over the evidence.”

  “Looking at all this, I’d say your suspicion is right,” Kendra informed the sheriff. “We can link the B&Es to the same perp, and it follows a pattern…technically, an escalation.”

  “So, what’s your estimation of what happened here?” I asked.

  The sheriff scratched his chin. “According to the family, they were in the den at the back of the house when they heard a loud noise. The dog charged through the house, attacking the intruder in the kitchen.”

  “The family told us they had some extra kerosene for their heater stored in the kitchen,” Kendra said. “So, the sheriff and I think the intruder used kerosene to set the fire that spread throughout the house.”

  I shook my head. “When will people realize it’s not smart to store extra kerosene in the house?”

  Kendra replied, “It’s the simple things that people forget to do.”

  The sheriff pulled off his hat, rubbing his fingers through his hair, agitation written all over his face. “This is the tenth house this guy has hit, assuming it’s the same person. He’s taking small valuables, nothing so far that would net him enough to stop.”

  “And he’s not leaving behind enough evidence so you can conclusively say who it is,” Kendra surmised.

  “That’s about the shape of it,” the sheriff confirmed. “If we had more people—more experienced people—to look into it…” He glanced over at Kendra.

 
She sighed heavily. “Look, Sheriff, I’m happy to consult but…”

  “Sheriff,” I interjected, “I don’t think Kendra’s even heard from the NYPD yet on when they expect her to come in for evaluation.”

  Kendra gave me a grateful look for stepping in at her hesitation.

  The sheriff patted her shoulder. “It’s already been a big help, having you look over what we’ve got. Believe me, I appreciate your insights.”

  “I’m happy to give them,” Kendra responded with a smile.

  The sheriff turned to me. “Since this is arson, it will involve the fire department on this one, I assume?”

  I nodded. The chief was already getting to work alongside the cops. “Yeah, we’ll be in on this case, at least. We’ll share what evidence we’ve collected with the PD.”

  The sheriff gathered up his files. “I’d better get with the chief and see what we can do for these poor folks.” He glanced over at the family then back to Kendra. “If you think of anything—or want more access to the file—I’m happy to talk anytime. Lukas has my cell number.”

  Kendra nodded her agreement to the invitation, and we watched the sheriff walk off to talk to the victims.

  “Back to my place?” I asked Kendra as she took another look around the scene.

  “Yes,” Kendra agreed, turning her attention back to me. “I’m actually hungry for seconds.”

  “Seconds of what?” I grinned, taking her hand, walking back toward my bike.

  Kendra gave me a sassy grin. “That delicious meal you made for me.”

  “That’s all?” I asked, letting go of her hand, pushing her helmet and jacket toward her.

  “Yes, that’s all,” she retorted, putting on her jacket then strapping on her helmet.

  “I’m just saying…” I answered as I threw my leg over the bike and turned it on. “I’m good to go for—” I held up two fingers “—round two.”